Solo Suds and Weighted Trails

Morning routine. Deployment system work. Fitton Green hike with weighted vest. Solo Suds Monday on Pliny the Younger night. Queen's Chopstick adventure. New Zealand trip logistics. Formal Logic. Classic Star Trek.

A Monday of solitary focus and converging logistics

Events and activities that occurred on Monday, February 09, 2026

The day's creative work centered on designing a staging feature for my deployment system — one of those projects that starts with a clear architectural vision and gradually reveals its complexity the deeper you go. The afternoon became one of those productive loops where I'd step away, think, return with a clearer picture, and push further. The kind of work that doesn't lend itself to dramatic storytelling but quietly moves the needle.

Fitton Green

The real physical work came at Fitton Green, where I hiked the Throop Loop carrying a sixteen-pound weighted vest along with my camera. The steep hills served their purpose — this is Phase 2 of pre-New Zealand exercise preparation, simulating the kind of sustained load I'll be carrying through trails on the South Island. I was noticeably sore getting back to my car, which felt like the right kind of signal.

Travel logistics for the New Zealand trip also fell into place. I rented cars for the drives between Corvallis and Portland International, and extended my non-owned car insurance through Suzanne Roppe at State Farm to cover the rentals. Joey also reported that her jury duty deferral came through, clearing that last logistical uncertainty.

Monday evening brought Suds Monday, though I arrived to find I was the only one. Jack was at the coast, Tim was in Boston, Brian was otherwise occupied. It happened to be Pliny the Younger night — Russian River's legendary triple IPA that draws crowds every February. Rather than sit alone at the usual table, I moved to the bar and settled into the atmosphere. There's something clarifying about being the sole regular on a night that draws the beer tourists.

Walking home, I stopped at Queen's Chopstick and asked for something unusual. The chef served a beef tripe dish that started mildly enough but had a slow-building spiciness that accumulated with each bite — the kind of heat that doesn't announce itself up front but makes its presence unmistakable by the end.

The evening wound down with Formal Logic and a couple of classic Star Trek episodes. The first picked up at the end of the Romulan cloaking device heist — Kirk and Spock pulling off one of the Original Series' great espionage gambits. The second featured the native deflector asteroid episode, one of those later-season stories where the Enterprise encounters a civilization that challenges Federation assumptions.

The day's arc traced a familiar pattern: sustained technical focus, physical training that's building toward something specific, social spontaneity in unexpected directions, and the quiet pleasures of evening entertainment. The New Zealand trip is shifting from abstract planning into concrete preparation — cars rented, insurance extended, fitness progressing. The pieces are assembling.